Sword Cut Bamboo
Sword Cut Bamboo
Kendo practice, cutting?
I have been reading a little about kendo lately and watched some videos on youtube and one question has popped to mind. Do you ever, as a part of kendo, practice cutting with a Real Blade? i know the core of kendo is fighting with the Bamboo Sword but is practicing cutting with a real katana part off the sport/art
Yes, unlike the others, who perhaps are not Kendoka, and not fully aware, you can but do not necessarily have to use a shinken (live Steel Sword) when you do Kata.
While one of the other responses is correct in that if you wanted to use it all the time, you would have to do Iai (Iaido or Iaijutsu), in Kendo Kata, as you get higher up in grade, you progress from using Bokken/Bokuto/Mokuto to Metal to Shinken. While you don’t actually hit or cut with it, the point is that you have the skill and control of your cut so your partner can fully trust you not to hurt them during Kata, and it also shows your Kendo since the Kata do not actually “cut” except for one of them.